Despite missing most of last season, newest Twins starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey is optimistic he will fit right into the team's rotation.

Pelfrey, recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow May 1, has concluded the bulk of his rehab by throwing as many as 90 pitches to batters. He says he has been throwing all his pitches without pain and hopes to pitch upward of about 180 innings for Minnesota in the coming season.

Twins general manager Terry Ryan says he has no reason to doubt that.

"He's good sized, he's in the prime of his career, he's got velocity," Ryan said Thursday, Dec. 20. "He's got a history of providing innings and starts, which we desperately need, and we're hoping obviously that a change of scenery will do him well here.

"We'll monitor him to some extent, but this guy's got a history of throwing innings -- it's not like he's never done it before -- so we're secure in the fact that, yeah, we believe he's going to bounce back."

Pelfrey, 28, says he has worked through his complete pitching repertoire without problem against batters at Wichita State, where he pitched for three seasons.

"I'm happy with how well it's gone," he said by phone from his home in Wichita, Kan. "I put a lot of hard work into it."

After signing a one-year contract worth $4 million, plus as much as $1.5 million in incentives, with the Twins this week, Pelfrey expects to report to spring training early, about Feb. 1, prepared to throw hard from a mound immediately.

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After limiting his throwing to about 80 to 85 percent capacity in workouts, he visited with Twins officials Wednesday and says the plan is to rest his arm until Jan. 11, then begin working toward full velocity.

Doctors told him that 94 percent of pitchers who undergo the ligament replacement surgery come back pitching just as hard or harder. A sinkerball specialist, Pelfrey's fastball was clocked from 92 to 94 mph before he was hurt, and he says he hopes to duplicate that in Minnesota.

"I'm excited about the change of scenery, a new opportunity in a new place," he said.

Pelfrey, who is 6 feet 7 and 254 pounds, picked the Twins from "four or five teams" that talked to him.

"They were looking for a starting pitcher," he said, "and Target Field will be a great place to pitch. It's a pitchers' park."

Being idle since April has whetted Pelfrey's appetite for the sport.

"It makes you realize how much the game means to you, how important it is and how much you appreciate it. So I've been itching to get back," he said.

Pelfrey posted a 2.29 earned-run average in three starts with the New York Mets last season before undergoing season-ending surgery. He has a career record of 50-54 and a 4.36 ERA in seven seasons, all with the Mets. His best season was 2010, when he went 15-9 with a 3.66 ERA.

"He had a very good year in 2010," Ryan said. "Hopefully, we'll get him back to that point."